Unanswered
by Timeloopy
Summary: Just like Bernard mentioned, all that matters is being together. . .


Unanswered. . .

Juliet opened her eyes and realized the pain was gone. She was terrified. If the pain was gone did that mean she was paralyzed? To go through all this and live – to go through all this and end up trapped here in this hole – in this body – unable to move was more than she could stand.

She turned her head and looked at her toes expecting to see the mangled steel that had fallen across her. Instead, there was only a little dirt and rust from where the chains had bound her. In disbelief, she pushed herself to a sitting position and looked around. She wasn't at the bottom of the hole. Around her it was night and the sounds of the jungle wrapped her in a familiar cocoon.

Voices came from behind the trees and she approached to see who was there. Three people stood in a clearing holding a map. Two female and one male.

"Hey,"she called out.

Their heads came up and they looked around. One of the girls gripped the arm of a blonde man who appeared to be in his early twenties. She had dirty blonde hair that fell in curls almost to her waist.

"What was that?" The blonde's voice quaked.

"It's just me. Have you seen anyone else?" Juliet called. Her voice sounded odd to her – there was no echo – like the sound waves went out and didn't bounce back.

Now the Asian girl gripped the young man's other arm.

"Let's get out of here, Aaron. Let's go back to the beach."

Juliet ran after them calling out.

"Wait! Come back. Have you seen James?"

But the more she called, the more terrified they looked. Just before they reached the tree line, she threw out a hand to grab the young man's shirt and watched in amazement as her hand passed through him.

She dropped to the ground unsure what to do. What had happened to her? Was she dead? Of course, she must be. She shivered at the thought of being stuck like this. Alone – unable to reach out and touch another human being. She sat down against a tree and wrapped her arms around her legs and tried to imagine what came next.

***

Jack and Kate were still dragging Sawyer when the sky turned white. They threw up their arms to guard their faces from the flash. When Sawyer unshielded his eyes, it was night.

He was alone in the jungle.

Without Jack and Kate to stop him, he made his way back through the trees to the place where he'd left her. She wasn't there. There was no hatch either.

He heard voices approaching through the trees and was both relieved and irritated to see that it was Jack and Kate. Except something was vaguely different. Jack's arm was at her elbow in a protective gesture. But as they drew closer, he realized that there was a silver streak in Kate's hair.

"What's going on?" he asked, but they didn't seem to hear him. Kate only shivered and drew closer to Jack.

"What's happening here?" he said, stepping face to face with Jack who looked right through him and wrapped his arms around Kate.

His stomach clenched when they walked right through him. What was happening to him? If he was dead, shouldn't they be too. But maybe not, they looked older than her remembered. His hand went to his face, but he felt the same as always. No spring chicken any more, but no new wrinkles marred his face.

He'd head for the beach, he decided. Juliet used to make fun of him for that instinct. If all else failed, head for the beach.

***

He saw her before she saw him. Her hair glistened almost white in the moonlight. It looked like it was spun from moonbeams. Though her head was down, he'd know the line of her neck anywhere – her long legs – the posture she adopted when she was scared. And few people other than him could even tell when she was scared.

After what he'd just experienced, he was afraid to speak. Would his words fall on deaf ears.

Instead, he approached her and tentatively reached out to touch her shoulder.

Her head came up. The soft light accented her flawless complexion. Her blue eyes, bright with unshed tears, filled with disbelief when she saw him.

He held out a hand and she took it, allowing him to help her up.

Sawyer took her other hand and turned her hands over – running his thumbs over the palms – her hands were bruised from holding on to his so tightly. He raised each palm in turn and kissed it gently.

Tears fell from Juliet's eyes as her skin tingled at his touch. She turned her palms to meet his and they leaned into each other – looking into each other's eyes – hand to hand – forehead to forehead – breathing each other's air.

Juliet slid her arms around his neck and his went around her waist and they pressed against each other treasuring the warmth. Relaxing in one another's comfort.

The moonlight danced over the golden couple – beautiful as a pair of Greek Gods on Mt. Olympus but with none of the fury.

"Are we dead?" Juliet finally gained the courage to try her voice.

"No idea." Sawyer answered her, his hand going to her face – his fingers tracing her features as though they were made of angel wings that might disintegrate if he applied too much pressure.

"I think I saw Aaron," she said. She closed her eyes and basked in his touch.

"Saw Jack and Kate," he said absently. His focus was on this treasure that had been returned to him. He didn't really care how. "She looked old."

Juliet chuckled and the sound made him feel like he'd come home.

"So what are we, anyway?" She asked him, not really caring what the answer was. Whatever they were, they were together.

"Whispers on the wind," Sawyer replied. "I think maybe, we're just the whispers on the wind."

He took her hand in his and led her away from the clearing.

"Where are we going?"

"To the beach."

"You're lucky I've got your back."

"You think I don't know that? I'm the luckiest man alive."

"I'm not sure you're alive."

"Eh. Details, details."

Jacob stood watching them walk down the shoreline with the faintest of smiles.

"The end only comes once," he said to no one in particular. "Everything else . . . is progress."


End file.
